Carbon-Beneficial Farming
Carbon Farm Network
Adirondack Field is a member of the New York Carbon Farm Network, an interdependent group of small brands and independent designers sourcing Climate Beneficial™ fibers from Upstate New York farms that are implementing Carbon Farm Practices on their lands. Our Wadhams Collection knits are all made using this unique and special fiber. Meet our farms here.
What is Climate Beneficial™ Verified Fiber?
When we say our Wadhams Collection knits are made from Climate Beneficial™ fiber, we mean fiber grown to a verifiable standard developed by Fibershed, a nonprofit that has spent nearly a decade building a better kind of textile economy. Here's what the standard entails:
It Starts with the Farm Every grower who produces Climate Beneficial™ fiber begins with a whole farm plan, a long-term, site-specific roadmap developed in partnership with soil scientists and regional conservation experts. That plan identifies exactly how each farm can reduce its environmental footprint and begin actively pulling carbon back out of the atmosphere and into the soil where it belongs.
The Practices are Verified Enrolled farms are required to implement specific land stewardship practices each season. Practices include cover cropping, managed rotational grazing, compost application, reduced tillage, and the restoration of native habitats and riparian zones. These efforts are documented, photographed, GPS-tagged, and independently verified through on-site visits and data audits. Most hazardous pesticides and chemicals are prohibited outright.
The Soil is Tested Soil samples are collected and analyzed annually for the first three years, measuring carbon content, biological health, water retention, and more. The goal is to measurably improve the land over time.
The Carbon Math is Done Greenhouse gas benefits are calculated using COMET-Planner, a tool developed through collaboration between the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Colorado State University. Since the program's launch, enrolled farms are estimated to have sequestered over 170,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
The Fiber is Traceable to the Farm Every bale of Climate Beneficial™ verified fiber carries a Certificate of Verification linked to the specific farm and field it came from, the practices implemented, the soil test results, and the estimated greenhouse gas benefit. When we source from these farms, we know exactly where our fiber has been and what the land looked like before and after it was grown there.
The Farmers are Fairly Paid The program is built on a farmer-first model. 100% of the premium paid for Climate Beneficial™ fiber goes directly to the grower. Technical assistance is provided at no cost to farmers, and pricing is set by actual on-the-ground implementation costs.
In short: this is fiber grown by people who are actively working to restore the landscapes they steward, verified by scientists, and traceable all the way back to the soil it came from. For us, it's the clearest expression of what responsible sourcing actually looks like.